That's why Suri Cruise, 6 -- who recently started her first year at the city's prestigious Avenues School -- decided to take matters into her own hands during a recent visit to Battery Park with mom Katie Holmes.

The little girl, clad in all pink, was spotted making a new friend with a boy around her age as Holmes, 33, looked on. At one point during the tots' chat, the boy brought out his cell phone (to take down Suri's phone number, perhaps?)

Since Suri's mom split from her dad, Tom Cruise, in June, the Dead Accounts actress has been set on giving her daughter as normal a life as possible. When Suri's not in school, the mother-daughter duo frequent museums, zoos, parks, and even ride the subway. And at her new school, the mini-fashionista has been forced to swap her designer duds for Avenues' mandatory Lands' End uniforms -- something Holmes fully supports.

The Holmes and Yang designer chose Avenues "because it could keep up with a gifted child like Suri," a pal explained to Us Weekly. And the strict dress code was a draw for Holmes, since it means Suri will have to say sayonara to those $600 Jimmy Choo heels.

Says the insider, "She wants Suri to fit in and be more of a normal kid."

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